


Raising Expectation

by t_shirt



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, mention of lemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:22:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_shirt/pseuds/t_shirt
Summary: An expedition to raise a sunken ship brings more than it’s cargo to light when Hiiro realizes the deep seeded desires in his heart.
Relationships: 3x4, 5+all, Pairings: 1x2
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Raising Expectation

Genre: Post War Cannon  
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5+all  
Disclaimer: If only  
Warnings: Lemon Meringue (you know, the fluff stuff ^-^), mild angst

Summary: An expedition to raise a sunken ship brings more than it’s cargo to light when Hiiro realizes the deep seeded desires in his heart. 

It was a very odd feeling being partnered with the other pilots again. Looking out over the open ocean brought back memories of his chaotic first arrival on Earth. Zechs had proven from the start to be a worthy adversary. The taste of salt on the air and the cry of seagulls washed along his memory. It wasn’t anything like he expected, being brought down then discovered and hospitalized, rescued and given a second chance to complete his mission. And then, there was Duo. 

He would arrive shortly. The Captain of the Constancy had already informed them that his helicopter was en route. He watched the swelling sea along the horizon, recalling the short time he had spent with the American aboard Howard’s ship and a smile graced his lips at the memory of Duo standing on the deck shouting his traitorous accusation. That short video clip had brought a smile to his face more than once over the hard months that followed. 

“Five minutes,” Trowa’s voice broke through his thoughts when he joined him along the railing of the huge upper deck. 

“Is Duo piloting?” Hiiro asked, receiving a wide grin from his green eyed companion. 

“Okay, make it three,” Trowa amended. “I heard Wufei has been lobbying to rebuild L5,” he commented, gazing out at the lapping waves. 

“We can ask him after debriefing,” Hiiro replied while the corners of his mouth curled upon spotting a small black dot on the horizon. 

Trowa’s affectionate laughter fed the growing elation as he observed, “Thirty feet?”

“Twenty,” Hiiro countered, watching the small shape as a large swell rose up, appearing to swallow it whole.

“They’re here!” Quatre crowed, darting along the deck with a portable com dangling around his head. “Here!” he laughed, jerking the apparatus off to shove into Hiiro’s hands. “He wants you.”

Hiiro smiled at the comment while he raised the headset to his ear and promptly pulled it away when a horrendous whoop echoed from the tiny speaker and a quick check on their approach confirmed that the helicopter had just busted over the crest of the oceans surface while Duo’s battle cry filled the air. “Tone it down 02,” he grinned, “You’re scaring the fish.”

“Hiiro! Hey, buddy!” Duo sang, pulling the chopper up to a safe distance. “Where in the hell have you been hiding?” 

“Under the kitchen sink,” he deadpanned. 

“Yeah, but whose?” Duo laughed, then on a sudden change of subject barked, “Hey! You want some fish? I gotcha covered,” just before a missile shot from the choppers nose into the sea. A moment later the entire ship felt the shock waves when the ocean exploded upward in a shower of sparkling foam and dozens of what looked like yellow fin tuna toppled back into the water. 

“That’s one hell of a hook!” Hiiro laughed. Trowa and Quatre stood in shocked amusement along with the rest of the crew that was collecting along the railing to watch while Duo scooped up his catch in the rescue net. 

“All ya had to do was ask,” Duo replied. 

“If you’re finished waging war on the aquatic members of this planet, could we possibly get on with landing?” Wufei’s tolerant tone broke in. 

“Don’t you like fish?” Duo retorted, scooping up another floating tuna in the net. 

“Yes, but this is hardly the time…”

“Hey man, it wasn’t my idea,” Duo cut him off and Hiiro shook his head while he laughed with the others. 

“You didn’t have to use an air strike,” Wufei countered.

“Hiiro wanted fish,” Duo reasoned.

“He did not say he wanted…”

“What do you have against fish?”

“I don’t have anything against fish!”

“Well, keep that up and you’re not getting any sushi for dinner.”

Trowa was laughing out loud and Quatre was nearly in stitches as a mound of tuna was dumped on the deck before Duo finally landed. Hiiro couldn’t wipe the smile from his face when they joined Captain Jacque and his son and first mate, Maurice, to welcome them aboard. He was suddenly aware of the breeze that tugged playfully at his bangs and the way it tickled along his skin when Duo stepped into view. His face brought back hundreds of visions from the past, each of them as vivid as the one his mind was now imprisoning and it struck him that he had somehow forgotten to notice little things like the wind along the way. It wasn’t so odd that the excitement was honing his senses, but he was a little troubled by the fact that his perception appeared to have everything to do with the crazy American’s proximity. 

“Permission to come aboard!?” Duo called. 

“Permission granted! Welcome aboard!” the Captain recited the ancient greeting while Duo and Wufei ducked and ran from beneath the spinning blades of the chopper. Hiiro swallowed when Duo stopped dead in front of him and smiled brightly. 

“Hope tuna’s okay,” he beamed. Wufei’s sour expression when he took up a place at Duo’s side was ineffective as it was accompanied by the smallest of grins hiding in the corner of his mouth. 

“Not exactly a cost efficient way to fish,” the Captain laughed. 

“No one ever said sushi was cheap,” Duo countered. “Duo Maxwell,” he introduced himself, offering his hand. 

“I’m Captain Jacque,” he smiled, stepping aside to reveal his first mate. “And this is my son, Maurice.”

Hiiro stifled the snicker that rose in this throat, noting that Quatre and Trowa were suddenly very interested in the horizon while the Captain’s son blushed and batted his long lashed eyes at the new arrivals. It was an expected reaction as each of them in turn had received much the same greeting from the boy. He wasn’t that much younger than the five pilots, fourteen if Hiiro was any judge, and not altogether untouched by the wars. However, he was far enough removed that his behavior was appropriate for his age, making him seem no more than the child he was to them. He was also very obviously interested in the male of the species as a possible mate and made it very clear he would be open to any advances that might be offered to him. Hiiro had accepted his attention with tempered indifference, whereas Quatre seemed remarkably uncomfortable with the idea of possibly hurting his feelings by rejecting him. Wufei obviously intended to deal with it by vaporizing the thought with a hard gaze before it had time to root and Duo… Duo smiled warmly while he brushed his thumb over the boy’s cheek affectionately and instantly captured his heart. The joyous relief in the child’s eyes made Hiiro feel a little guilty over the way he and the others had chosen to cope, when in the end it appeared all the kid really wanted was to be accepted into the group. 

The crew set about gathering and cleaning the fish while the pilots were taken into the Captain’s ready room for their briefing. They were already aware of why they had been asked to assist the Constancy in her effort to dredge up a lost relic from the war. The ship that had gone down in these deep waters was thought to have been carrying a large shipment of raw ore bound for a Japanese spaceport which indicated the possibility that the ore contained gundanium and was being returned off planet for refinement. The metal that had made it possible for the pilots to help win the war had since had very strict regulations enacted upon it to prevent others from using the same technology. However, this had not only made it imperative that all known sources be secured, but also caused the value of it to skyrocket. It was of utmost importance to bring this shipment to the surface and see that it was properly housed in a storage facility before the scavengers found out about it. 

“What do we have to work with?” Duo asked. 

“Two Pisces and a Cancer on loan from the Earth’s Sphere military,” the Captain informed him. 

“We also have D.U.D.E,” Maurice chimed in. 

“Dude?” Duo questioned, earning himself a lengthy but very quickly stated introduction to the Deep Utility District Explorer that often helped the Constancy in her deep-sea endeavors. 

He sat and listened with rapt attention while the starry eyed boy explained the device had been the brain child of a friend of theirs, a fellow seaman and long time business acquaintance named Howard. Hiiro was quiet impressed that the only reaction the beloved name had drawn from his friend was a moderately cocked eyebrow while the boy chattered on about D.U.D.E.’s capabilities and how he had been the one to name him. 

“I can show him to you if you want,” Maurice smiled excitedly, obviously thoroughly enjoying his moment in the sun. 

“Cool,” Duo agreed and Hiiro mirrored the expression when the boy’s face lit up like a roman candle. “Are we done here?” he asked even as Maurice was pulling him from his chair. 

“We’ll be doing some more reconnaissance tomorrow,” the Captain replied. “It would be a good idea for all of you to become acquainted with D.U.D.E.”

“Sounds good,” Duo nodded giving into the insistent tugging on his arm. “Hiiro? You coming?”

“I’ll catch up.” 

Having been on board for a full day, Hiiro had already had the opportunity to study the rover. However, Wufei decided to tag along while Quatre insisted that Trowa help him explain how to make sushi to the cook.

One pleasant thing about being on a large boat in the middle of nowhere was the lack of manageable tasks. It wasn’t often that Hiiro found himself in a position to simply relax, but with the work not starting until the following day and his preliminary studies already complete he soon discovered the joys of simply sitting down and gazing out over the endless sea. The afternoon was waning and he was amazed by the way the light kissed the waves. Colors so rich in their diversity slowly edged into his vision as the setting sun cast gold and pink streamers onto the peaceful scene. There had never been a time when he had been free to simply exist in a beautiful moment before the end of the wars. 

A noise on the deck drew his attention and he gazed down from his perch in the crow’s nest and chuckled softly while Duo ducked to avoid Maurice’s playfully ill-timed attack and the boy crashed headlong into the wall while they laughed. It was amazing how much he had relaxed since Duo’s arrival. Up until the moment he smiled at him, the kid had been shy and uncomfortable, but it would seem that it had taken nothing more than Duo’s acceptance to bring out his true nature. Hiiro’s brow knit curiously while he watched them play, then his gaze drifted back out onto the glimmering sea while a pleasant laugher rumbled deep in his chest. It would seem he was no less affected. 

A deep sigh took hold of him, one in which he felt his life shifting while he turned his gaze back to the deck below. They were still laughing while Maurice diligently tried to avoid Duo’s repeated attempts to check his head for injuries and Hiiro’s breath suddenly hitched in his throat when Duo covertly turned his gaze upon him. The connection lasted only a moment, it was only Duo’s acknowledgement of his presence, nothing more, but it shattered what remained of Hiiro’s delusion. Had his life in this peaceful world truly been so empty? Fear settled in his chest before the couple on the deck disappeared and the sudden rush amplified his confusion while his mind scrabbled for an answer he found buried deep in the darkest recesses of his heart. He was in love and with Duo of all people. It became crystal clear the moment his eyes met his own, but what was he supposed to do about it?

He sighed, realizing his hands were trembling while he brushed them through his thick fall of bangs. The sun had lowered, its ever changing mastery painting the sky a brilliant gold laced with deep purples and vibrant orange that sparkled in the blackened sea. His mind dwelled on the face of his friend, the first person he had ever really trusted, the only person he had ever truly felt comfortable depending on, and suddenly discovered a well of secret desires that rose up and threatened to consume him. 

His breath quickened when his mind supplied him with heated visions of Duo’s mouth, his supple lips parting ever so slightly while Hiiro moved in to kiss them, his body weak and trembling in his embrace, the delicious feeling of lying atop the beautiful American. A sudden gasp escaped his lips when the powerful image of Duo’s strong body rising above him in the dark assaulted his mind and he laughed the troublesome laugh of a man uncertain of his path when he quietly whispered to himself…

“I am in so much trouble.”

“Hey! That’s not bad,” Captain Jacque complimented, taking another bit of sushi in his mouth. 

“Leave it to Trowa,” Quatre smiled, leaning his shoulder into his side. 

“It was your idea,” Trowa shrugged. 

“Yes, but you’re the one that created the recipe,” Quatre argued. 

“Hey, I caught the fish,” Duo chimed in. 

“At the expense of a two thousand dollar rocket,” Wufei teased. 

“You look like you’re enjoying it,” Duo countered. 

“That was so cool,” Maurice smiled and Hiiro stifled the urge to grin at his starry eyed gaze. 

“It’s all in the angle of trajectory…” Duo began. 

Quatre rolled his eyes and smiled at their Japanese partner while Duo launched into a very detailed explanation for the success of his catch that had absolutely no basis in reality whatsoever. Hiiro smiled affectionately, earning himself a quick wink that told him Duo was well aware of the depth of the bullshit he was dragging Maurice through before he realized he was looking at him with the same starry eyed expression as the boy and looked away. 

“I think I’ll turn in,” he told the group in general. 

“Already?” Duo asked abandoning his tale. 

“We have a long day tomorrow.” It was true, to a point. 

“Then I’ll come with you,” Duo smiled, ignoring the crestfallen look on Maurice’s face when he stood from the table. 

Hiiro felt his throat tighten, but couldn’t come up with one thing to say that would stop this from happening. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see him, but in light of his recent revelation he really just wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. He tried to think of a way to keep the visit short without seeming rude while Duo said their goodnights and promised to have breakfast with Maurice in the morning. 

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d gone off planet,” Duo commented while they made their way back toward the small cabins. 

“I’ve been working for Une,” Hiiro informed him clamping down firmly on the rising heat while Duo’s braid bobbed along just under his ass in front of him in the narrow corridor. 

He recalled having such feelings for him before, but back then it was just as easy to believe it was irritation that caused the bubbling warmth to rise up. Now that there was no war, no battles and a hell of a lot less stress it was easy to see that this was not the case. 

“...think you’d be interested in field work after all that.”

“What?”

“Where are you, man?” Duo chuckled, stopping outside a likely looking cabin. 

“Right here,” Hiiro replied, noticing that he had unerringly brought them straight to his cabin. 

“No, you’re not,” Duo laughed, ducking inside. “You’re a million miles away. Is this mission bothering you that much?” he asked flopping down in the bunk while Hiiro squeezed into the small area and took the only seat available by the door. 

“As long as there are no live warheads aboard it should be easy enough,” Hiiro replied. 

“Ooooh, so that’s it,” Duo grinned flipping off one shoe. 

“What’re you doing?” Hiiro snipped as the sudden rush in his ears caused by the searing image of Duo lying on his bunk stark naked drew the question from him in a heated rush. 

“Just getting comfortable,” Duo replied looking at him as if he’d grown horns and Hiiro laughed at the thought. “You okay?” he asked flipping off the other shoe. 

“Just… tired,” Hiiro replied. 

“Tried?” Duo grinned mischievously. “Someone holding some kryptonite?” he teased. 

_’Yeah, you’_ was he first thing that popped into his head, but he didn’t dare say it out loud. He needed some time to figure out how to deal with the situation. 

“Hey,” Duo said more seriously, sitting up. “You do look wiped. You sure you’re all right?” he asked reaching his hand toward Hiiro’s face as if to test the quality of his skin, but his brow furrowed in confusion when he suddenly jerked away. 

“I’m fine,” Hiiro told him shortly. “How are things on L2?” 

Duo paused a moment to consider him and Hiiro knew beyond the shadow of a doubt he knew something was up. “Fine,” was his clipped reply. 

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Okay,” Duo amended. “Boring as hell,” he revised standing and Hiiro jumped up and hit his head on the ceiling crying out in pain when he started to unfasten his pants. “Aw! Geez! What in the hell is up with you?” Duo grimaced in sympathy, aiding his friend in his efforts to quail the pain. 

“What were you doing?” Hiiro ground out between clenched teeth. Fuck! Steel was hard!

“Getting ready for bed.”

“You’re sleeping here?” Shit. 

“Unless you’d rather I didn’t,” Duo sighed, clearly not comprehending his behavior and Hiiro suddenly realized just how oddly he was behaving. 

“No,” he sighed, reigning in some tighter control on his floundering emotions. “That’s fine.”

He was totally unprepared for the lascivious thoughts that exploded in his mind when Duo smiled and asked, “Top or bottom?”

“……………..”  
“Hiiro?”

“B…bottom,” Hiiro replied softly while an image of Duo spread out beneath him completely at his mercy swam across his mind.   
“You sea sick or something?” 

Hiiro just shook his head and tried to lie down on his bunk, but Duo was still standing in the limited space, which meant he had to squirm, scoot and otherwise molest him in order to accomplish the task. His face was beet red, his breathing irregular and his pants tented by the time he curled into a ball on the thin mattress.

“Ya know, that D.U.D.E. gizmo’s a pretty slick piece of machinery,” Duo began as the rustling sound of his movements caused Hiiro to roll his head over, whereupon he rolled it right back and buried it under the pillow while the searing vision of Duo’s half naked body continued to cook his brain. 

What was with him all of a sudden? It had never been so hard to focus before. Not even when he’d worked with Duo closely in between the wars. It was always pleasant, a companionable partnership that left him feeling whole and secure, almost as if he had some semblance of a family. So what changed? 

“Ah, damn,” Duo groaned and Hiiro fell into the trap once again rolling over to see what was the matter only to find him pulling his shirt off over his head, his long body stretching out while he moaned softly under the protest of aching muscles. 

Oh yeah, that. 

“Think I pulled something fighting that chopper today,” Duo groaned. 

“Are you injured?” Hiiro asked because if that were the case it was going to throw a monkey wrench in the gears of their operation.

“Naw,” Duo shook his head. “Just a little tight.” 

Hiiro groaned silently to himself while Duo decided to sit on the edge of his bed to take off his socks. Why did everything he said seem to relate to something sexual in his mind? His answer throbbed between his legs when Duo bent over to retrieve his dropped sock off the floor. 

“Well, it’ll be cool to be in the cockpit again,” he said, jumping up onto his bunk and his long legs dangled before Hiiro’s eyes for a moment before he hoisted himself up. Hiiro shut his eyes tight and tried very hard not to relate the word ‘cockpit’ to the view. 

Duo spoke of the mission for a time, outlining his ideas on how best to raise the cargo should they find any and the minimal possibility of live warheads becoming a threat before things quieted down and Hiiro felt the oppressive silence invade his realm. Had he really sat quietly content in his solitary apartment only a week ago, completely unaware of his stagnation? The world suddenly seemed a very lonely place without the sound of Duo’s voice and when he spoke again it was like the breaking of the sun in Hiiro’s world. 

“Good night,” Duo said softly in a tone so low Hiiro almost didn’t hear the gentle undertones. Or maybe that was just his heart reaching out for more than what was actually there. 

Morning came early on the ship. The crew was usually up before dawn and hard at work. Hiiro awoke to the sound of Duo sliding out of his bunk to land light footed on the floor and his eyes slowly opened to see the grinning face that had somehow invaded his dreams. 

“Breakfast,” Duo chirped and Hiiro smiled in spite of himself while he watched him energetically ready himself for the day. “Aren’t you hungry?” 

“There’s only room for one to stand in here at a time,” Hiiro reminded him. 

“Oh, yeah,” Duo chuckled sheepishly adding a quick, “I’ll wait for you in the hall,” before ducking out of their tiny cabin. 

Forty-five seconds. That’s all it had taken him to wake and be fully dressed and waiting. Old habits die hard Hiiro thought while he rolled out of bed in his ready attire and joined his companion in less than another ten. Maurice accosted them before they reached the end of the hall, going so far as to latch onto Duo’s arm for a moment before he skillfully wriggled free. The kid never stopped chattering over breakfast. Wufei joined them about halfway through and sat talking quietly with the Captain while the man’s son delivered a good portion of his biography. By the time the crew announced their readiness to begin operations for the day Trowa and Quatre had wandered in and even Hiiro smirked at the tousled look of them. 

“Long night?” Duo grinned, drawing a bright blush from Quatre and an evil smirk from Trowa before they headed topside. “Hey, Quat!” he shouted while he pulled on his flight suit. “Ready to have some real power under your ass again?”

“Just as soon as this job’s over,” Quatre called back and Duo burst into tears with laugher. 

“How’s the Cancer look?” Hiiro cut in over the open com. 

“All systems go,” came Wufei’s curt reply. 

“Be sure to set as many drag lines as possible,” Captain Jacque reminded them. 

“Roger that,” Hiiro acknowledged. 

“Duo!” He stopped just as he was climbing inside the D.U.D.E submersible to smile at the anxious boy that was rushing up to the hatch. “Here! Take this,” Maurice panted, his face crimson from the excitement and the daringness of his deed while he jerked a braided chain with a small, gold doubloon from around his neck and offered it to Duo. “It’s my good luck charm,” he told him climbing up before attempting to drape it around his neck, but Duo raised his hands to stop him. 

“Sorry,” he smiled apologetically taking the chain in his hand instead. “The necks already occupied, but here,” he soothed wrapping the delicate chain with its miniature treasure around his wrist. Maurice looked disappointed for a moment, but recovered quickly seeming happy to have his offering accepted and Duo ruffled his hair before climbing in next to Hiiro. 

“Sit tight and we’ll have you launched within the half hour,” Captain Jacque informed them. 

“That won’t be necessary,” Trowa replied. “Just make sure the recorders are functional,” he said just before he ran his Pisces off the end of the deck. 

“Show off,” Quatre chuckled, adding a small leap to his exit that sent him fifty yards further out into the open sea than his tall counterpart. 

Half the crew was already cheering raucously, none so loudly as Maurice, when Wufei did a dignified one step into the briny blue. 

D.U.D.E. wasn’t anything like either the Pisces or Cancer. It actually resembled more of a troll than a mobile suit, but that hardly stopped Duo from stepping it down the deck and with a horrendous wail did a one handed cartwheel into the sea. 

“Hey!” Leon shouted in his heavy French accent. “D‘ey are not supposed to do ‘zis! D.U.D.E. was not designed for such…frivolity!” 

“Seems to be holding up just fine,” Duo laughed. “Nice piece of work,” he complimented running his fingers over the familiar control panel. He may have never piloted the ship before, but he had helped design most of the technology that went into its creation. “And a two man cockpit,” he smiled at his seemingly distracted co-pilot. 

“‘e was not meant for `zis!” Leon pouted. 

“Recon is recon,” Trowa interrupted. “Target in sight.”

“Hoooooly…” Duo crooned in open wonder when the massive ship came into sight. At that depth the light was poor at best and it took every search light between them plus several flares to get a good idea of the layout, but it was clear from a glance that she was in at least three pieces as the preliminary echo’s had suggested. “I sure hope I’m not the one that brought her down,” he voiced all of their thoughts softly. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Wufei replied in an equal tenor. “We were at war. We did what had to be done.”

“Stay alert,” Trowa warned while he circled around the backside of the larger middle section. “Looks like she is the one we wanted. The guns are still intact on the port side.”

“Chance of live munitions?” Hiiro inquired. 

“Ninety percent.”

“Make that one hundred,” Quatre’s suddenly tense tone corrected. 

“You have a visual?” Wufei asked. 

“At least three missiles,” he confirmed. “Possibly Cobra Longliners.”

“Damn it,” Duo swore. “We’ll have to disarm them before we can move.”

“Any possibility of additional threats?” Hiiro asked. 

“Negative,” Trowa replied having joined their Arabian partner in his search. “The armory is busted wide open. Three missiles confirmed. Definite Cobra ID.”

“You’re sure?” Wufei prompted. 

“Want the serial numbers?” Trowa chuckled. 

“Well, there goes that party high,” Duo sighed. 

“Scout the perimeter,” Hiiro instructed while his team began the first sweep taking pictures every ten feet until Duo slowed and pulled their oddly shaped behemoth to a stop. 

“It’s defiantly our girl,” he informed the others when the searchlights lit up the ships name. “The Expectation,” he breathed reverently, wondering once again if she had come to rest in this dark, watery grave at his hand as he cut the comm.   
“Duo?”

“Do you know her?” Duo asked softly. 

Hiiro was taken aback by the question even though he fully understood his feelings. However, in the end, all he could offer him was the truth. “No.”

“I’m going to do this,” Duo confessed. “I’m best suited to work with explosives…”

“We’ll do it together,” Hiiro cut him off, robbing him of the will to speak, but he could see the gratitude in his eyes when he nodded his acceptance. 

“Tomorrow,” Duo decided. 

“We should finish this up quickly,” Hiiro commented. “We’ll need plenty of time to study the photos. I don’t want any surprises.”

“Me and you both,” Duo snorted softly, kicking the com back on. 

“….they finally figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Duo asked brightly. 

“How to work a com link,” Trowa snipped. 

“Oh,” Duo grinned. “You mean this thing?” he asked flipping on the internal speakers. 

“SHIT!’ Trowa barked covering his ears. 

“What is that!?!” Quatre shouted over the thunderous musical beat.

“That,” Duo laughed with a touch of the old demonic glory threading his tone, “Is the Godz!”

“Well, crucify them or something!” Trowa growled. 

“Turn it off!” Wufei joined in. 

“Duo!” Quatre yelled and suddenly silence prevailed. 

“Prude,” Duo pouted at his slightly amused mission mate while he set a course for the next level of pictures.   
It took most of the morning to finish the massive job. Special care was taken around the missile site where they took the time to break away from the wreck and scour the cliffs and sand dunes. No other threats were found before they headed topside again. Duo had turned his music back on during the long wait between ascensions though the volume was considerably subdued and creased his brow curiously when Hiiro reached up to cut the com.   
“What’s up?” he asked curiously.   
Hiiro’s eyes fell on the charm around Duo’s wrist as his mind played between jealousy and concern while he fought with his decision to speak to him about it. “Do you think it’s wise?” he asked. “Encouraging him that way?” he explained indicating the necklace.   
“He’s a cute kid,” Duo chuckled, examining the charm affectionately.   
“He has a major crush on you, you know?”   
“You jealous?” Duo teased and Hiiro choked on his own breath. “Damn, man,” Duo chuckled uncertainly, patting him on the back as best he could in the close quarters. “You okay?”  
“Fine,” Hiiro rasped. “But you shouldn’t *cough * lead him on *cough* like that,” he wheezed.   
“It’s just a good luck charm,” Duo reasoned.   
“Not to him,” Hiiro countered, breathing deep. “The depth of your acceptance of him should be very clear if you don’t want to hurt him.”  
“It’s just a crush,” Duo shrugged. “I think it’s kind of sweet,” he smiled, gazing at his talisman again.   
“That is his heart you hold in your hand,” Hiiro told him in a tone as serious as one can achieve having just half choked to death.   
Duo took the time to examine the glimmering coin more closely as its intricate patterns reflected warmly in the low light, before he softly commented, “You’ve grown,” and Hiiro’s heart skipped a beat.   
However, before he could reply, a resounding blow from the outside suddenly rocked their vessel and Duo’s hands flew to the controls, his fingers searching for weapons that weren’t there until he caught sight of the Cancer speeding toward the light above them.   
“Damn it, Fei!” he growled opening the com.   
“You’re two minutes late to surface,” he informed them.   
“So you had to ring our bell?” Duo snipped moving them toward the surface.   
“You shouldn’t close the com.”  
“Did it ever occur to you to hail us?”  
“You didn’t respond.”  
“And you’re out of flares?”  
“I see no need to waste flares just because you decided to have a private chit chat.”  
“Well, I do!” Duo countered lining D.U.D.E. up with the hoist. “My damn ears will be ringing for a month!”  
“Then don’t get so engrossed in Yui you forget to check the comm.,” Wufei replied and the smirk was more than evident in his tone so Hiiro got to see his long haired partner turn six shades of red. Quatre and Trowa joined in the merriment, chuckling long and heartily that the day had finally come when Chang Wufei got the better of Duo Maxwell. 

The afternoon was spent pouring over the pictures that had been taken. Once assembled, the ship’s network was able to display the image of the ship in its entirety and the crew got their first good look at what lay beneath them.   
“Z‘ose missiles,” Leon indicated with a flick of his pointed chin. “‘ow dangerous are they?”  
“Cobra SM32 Longliners,” Hiiro explained. “Aerojet LR87-AJ-5 two chamber liquid propellant rocket thrust fueled by Aerozine-50 that ignites on contact with nitrogen tetroxide...”  
Captain Jacque held up a hand to halt the stoic Wing pilot’s detailed description to ask, “What is a safe distance should one explode?”  
“Considering they are underwater about a half mile,” Hiiro replied calmly.   
However, the Captain and his crew were looking very green around the gills.   
“No worries,” Duo smiled kicking his chair back on two legs while he crossed both his arms behind his head. “You guys’ll be outside the blast radius should I screw up…”  
“You?” Quatre cut him off.   
“I’m the demolitions expert,” Duo shrugged.   
“But…”  
“You can’t disarm all three of them by yourself,” Trowa interjected.   
“I’m going with him,” Hiiro informed them.   
“You’ll have a five second warning if you fail,” Wufei commented.   
“Yeah,” Duo snorted. “Just enough time to kiss your ass goodbye.”  
“No!” Maurice barked heatedly when the ease in which the five pilots spoke of such matters caused him what was easily ascertained as a great deal of stress. “You can’t,” he said, suddenly clinging to Duo’s arm. “What if you get hurt? They don’t have to do it, right, Dad?”  
“Don’t sweat it, kid,” Duo smiled, laying a soothing hand over the boy’s white knuckles on his arm. “I was building bombs out of matchsticks and ammonia before those missiles were past the test stage,” he grinned. “Nothing’s going to happen.”  
“We can tie off with a tether,” Wufei suggested. “Anchor a safe distance away and extract you in case of detonation.”  
“You’d have to be inside the danger zone,” Hiiro shook his head.   
“There are plenty of rocks and rises in the coral here for us to shield ourselves,” Quatre countered.   
“It wouldn’t matter,” Duo reasoned. “Five seconds wouldn’t get us more than twenty feet from the flash point. We’d be toast anyway.”  
“Dad?!” Maurice whimpered in a terrified little chirp that made Duo have to hold back an affectionate snicker.   
“It’ll be okay,” Duo told him. “Hiiro and I can do anything together,” he smiled, winking at his partner and Hiiro suddenly felt as if he could fly if only he had a hold of Duo’s hand.   
“I don’t want you to die,” Maurice sniffled pitifully, burying his damp eyes in Duo’s arm.   
“I don’t have that scheduled till AC 285,” Duo laughed, adding in a hushed tone, “Besides, I really don’t like toast.”  
It took some time and every ounce of Duo’s delightful charm to calm Maurice enough that he finally gave in and went off to bed and the five pilots got down to business. Captain Jacque, Leon and his two head technicians sat and listened even though they didn’t understand half of what they were saying. It was clear enough that Quatre wasn’t going to back down about the extraction precautions no matter how much Duo argued with him, so by the end of the night it was decided. Quatre, Trowa and Wufei would stand guard, each tethered to the D.U.D.E. device, which, in turn, would be linked to its external exoskeleton probes. The reason the rover had such large, cumbersome arms was that each was a semi detachable, one-man extension that would allow them the high maneuverability that they would need to perform the task without getting crushed by the pressure in the process. Duo knew there was no way either of them were going to survive if one of the missiles detonated, but he finally gave into Quatre’s insistence and agreed to the contingency.   
Hiiro was feeling unreasonably nervous once the meeting finally wound down and ended up roaming the deck instead of returning to his and Duo’s shared cabin. He wondered for a time where the odd anxiety was coming from, then shook his head and told himself not to be stupid. He’d felt it before, whenever Duo was hurt or in danger. Such a strange feeling, not being capable of working up any real fear over the possibility of his own death, but the thought of Duo disappearing turned his insides to water. He just couldn’t see it. A world without Duo was just not a possibility in his mind anymore. It struck him again how blind he had been to think his life was moving along as he wanted it to when everything he had ever wanted lay back in that cabin surrounded by the most beautiful chestnut hair he’d ever seen in his life.   
Yes, Duo was beautiful; inescapably so. He smiled, recalling the first time he’d ever seen the lunatic American on the docks. Relena still had no idea how close she had come to dying that day. He sighed, remembering her expression the day he finally explained in no uncertain terms that he was not and never would be romantically interested in her. He shook his head while he gazed out over the midnight blue ocean where the stars twinkled above and below in the inky blackness, and chuckled at the thought that it had taken him so long to understand why he had never fallen in love with her.   
Duo was snoring loudly when he finally returned to their cabin, but he was able to do nothing more than smile. The more time he spent around him the more intoxicated he felt. It was so strange. His mind was clear, his thoughts comfortably familiar even in their foreign complexity. Was this what it felt like to be ‘high on life’? Or maybe, this was what it felt like to be high on love. That thought sobered him considerably and a warm smile graced his lips while he gazed at the slumbering figure in the top bunk for a moment before climbing into his own.  
The morning came early though he slept very little during the night, the question weighing on his mind whether or not he should confess his feelings to Duo. They hadn’t faced a danger like this since the war and not knowing whether either of them would see another dawn put him in mind to explain things before it was too late. In the end, he chose to keep his secret in fear that the news would upset him to the point that they might actually not make it out alive. If they didn’t survive it wouldn’t make any difference and if they did, well, he would deal with that when the time came. At the moment though, there was a more pressing problem.   
“Duo!” BANG! BANG! BANG! “Duo!”  
“Yeah, kid! Geez, man! What’s the matter?” Duo growled, wiping the sleep from his eyes even as his feet landed silently on the floor.   
“They’re here! They came!” Maurice yowled excitedly, bouncing half in/half out of the door when Duo opened it. “I can’t believe it! He said he’d never come back to Earth again, but dad just told him about you using D.U.D.E. to…”  
“Whoa!” Duo laughed, doing his best to hold the excited boy down before he got pummeled in the close quarters. “Slow down. Who’s here?”  
“Howard!” Maurice sang happily. “He landed last night! We didn’t expect it at all!”  
Hiiro grinned from his bunk, but couldn’t rise with the cabin full of braided pilot and bouncing boy.   
“Okay,” Duo chuckled, running a soothing hand up and down Maurice’s arm. “So, Howard came to see the show, but what do you mean by ‘landed’?”  
“That’s what I’ve been telling you!” Maurice fairly shone. “He’s brought the whole bloody ship!”  
“He dropped the Outbreak?!” Duo gasped, rushing to pull on his shirt.   
“Yeah! Landed it right in the middle of the ocean!” Maurice grinned. “Wait till you see it! It’s HUGE!”  
“Yeah, I’ve uh, had a peek,” Duo chuckled, ushering them outside where Hiiro could join them.   
They got a running commentary on the events of the early morning hours while they made their way topside. Hiiro smiled almost as wide as Duo when they stepped into the dawning sunlight and beheld the gargantuan form of Howard’s compensation for having sacrificed the Peacemillion to protect Earth. Huge didn’t quite cut it. The Constancy looked like a tub toy compared to the multi-atmospheric monstrosity that now loomed off her port bow. Howard had done well for himself and Hiiro knew that Duo had been a regular visitor to the new ship after the war. Like the Peacemillion, the Outbreak was designed for ‘dry dock,’ so to speak, in the ocean, which made it ridiculously easy for Howard to spend six months off planet and the next six on the ground if he chose. Hiiro slowed his steps, gently urging Maurice to do the same when they headed for where Howard was talking to Captain Jacque. 

“Hey!” Duo barked, strolling purposefully across the deck. Howard’s face lit up the moment he saw him, but the expression was quickly schooled while he peered somberly over his shades. “There’s a whole freaking ocean out there and you have to park that thing _here?_ ”   
“Heard there was some lunatic endangering my machine,” Howard replied while a broad smile spread over his face and his arms opened wide while Duo gripped one forearm and embraced his old friend.   
“You know him?!” Maurice squeaked, finally breaking away from Hiiro.   
“We’ve met,” Duo smiled.   
“So who’s the damn fool planning to turn my rover into a shipwreck?” Howard asked, but what could be seen of his eyes said he already knew.   
“Ah, man,” Duo groaned. “You wound me, old man. No confidence.”  
“It ain’t you I’m questioning,” he replied. “That machines a prototype, you know?”  
“We’ve never had any trouble with it,” the Captain interjected.   
“Yeah!” Maurice chipped in. “Leon’s taken him down hundreds of times.”  
“Sounds like it’s been pretty well tested,” Duo grinned.   
“Why not just let me raise the lot with the Outbreak?” Howard suggested.   
“We can’t take the chance on loosing the cargo if the missiles should detonate,” Hiiro reminded them.   
“We’ll loose a lot more than the cargo if they go off with you two down there,” Quatre interjected and they turned to see him and his ever present, green eyed companion approaching.   
“Yeah, but the chances are a hell of a lot better for disarmament than jerking the entire wreck up by electromagnetism,” Duo reasoned.   
“Have you piloted the probe?” Howard asked. “They’re not meant for delicate work.”  
“We had planned on getting in some practice this morning,” Duo grinned brightly.   
“Where’s Wufei?” Trowa asked offhandedly.   
“He took the Cancer down early this morning,” Captain Jacque informed them. “Said he wanted to scout out some strongholds for the three of you in the rocks.”  
“Howard!”   
Duo’s grin blossomed further yet when a dark haired boy poked his head out of the skiff that had brought Howard aboard. Rach was about Maurice’s age and fast proving to be almost as good as Howard at anything mechanical. The aging sweeper had picked him up in the slums of the Rahia Nuud, a drifter colony that had claimed independence from the Earth long before the coming of the wars. The people were deep rooted in their beliefs, choosing to have very little to do with the rest of humanity, but from the look of this boy their origins appeared to lie somewhere between Bulgarian and Egyptian. His skin and hair were dark unlike the fair complexion of the sandy haired sailor boy. He was also much more serious, having spent most of his life hard at work, a somber, gentle spirit that Duo found most agreeable and would have greeted openly if he hadn’t been trying not to grin at the fact that he had apparently completely forgotten what he was going to say.   
“What it is!” Howard prompted and Maurice lit up like a super nova when he realized he appeared to be the reason for Rach’s distraction.   
“What?” Rach inquired and Duo hid his smile when his dark brown cheeks turned rosy red. “Oh, right, shall I return to the ship?”  
“Ah, let him stay,” Duo smiled, ignoring the sudden excitement in his young counterpart.   
Rach was more than happy to remain aboard the Constancy where Maurice insisted on dragging him all over the ship on a private tour. Compared to the Outbreak it was a bit like walking off the sun into a lukewarm bath, but Rach didn’t seem to mind.   
It took very little time for them to prepare and return to the sunken site to begin the morning’s work. Other than the cargo that needed to be raised and secured there were many other artifacts to be gathered as well. Quatre took care of opening the bridge and extracting the control center where the main data storage was hoped to be intact while Trowa scouted the aft section for anything that remained of the crew. Time had aided the inevitable assimilation of any bodies that might have remained, but he was able to recover many of the private articles that had survived. Wufei left them early on, having already been down for some time outlining what he believed to be their best plan for the coming task, while Hiiro and Duo used D.U.D.E.’s external pods to delve deeper into the safe areas of the wreck. Their efforts not only proved that the machines would be capable of performing the more delicate task of disarming the missiles, but helped them to recover the Captain’s log. By the time they returned to the surface for lunch Hiiro was feeling as confident as Duo about their chances of success and couldn’t help the quiet chuckle when Maurice stood quietly awaiting them when they disembarked.   
“Hey,” Duo smiled, shaking the dampness out of his bangs while he covertly glanced around for Rach. “Why the long face?” he asked the nervous looking boy who seemed incapable of looking him in the eye all of a sudden. Hiiro caught sight of Rach lurking in the corridor some ten yards away and knew Duo had tagged him as well by the smirk in his eyes.   
“Um, Duo… I was wondering…”  
“It’s a nice piece,” Duo smiled unwinding Maurice’s chain and medallion from his wrist. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen one quiet like it before,” he told him holding the shiny, golden coin up in the midday sun. Maurice turned a little blue and had a hard time keeping his eyes on the spinning bit of glimmering light. “Be mindful of who you give it to,” Duo smiled handing the small treasure over to the boy while he warned, “They might not want to give it back.”  
“It’s not really good luck,” Maurice confessed, palming his charm. “I just said that because…”  
“You wanted to be with me,” Duo smiled affectionately and Hiiro felt his heart skip a beat. Maurice returned the expression clearly grateful that Duo had understood his sacrifice well enough to know what it had taken for him to ask for its return. “You better get,” Duo chuckled, seeing Rach waver between staying put and coming to join them. “I think Rach’s the jealous type.” Hiiro laughed out loud when Maurice’s cheeks pinked brightly and he ran off to join his new friend. His good humor softened, but remained steadfast when Duo leaned back into him and sniffled theatrically proclaiming, “They grow up so fast,” in his best pouting tone.   
“They do indeed,” Hiiro replied feeling the blush rise to his face when Duo turned to regard him curiously at the comment.   
“Looks like you’ve still got the knack,” Howard interrupted.   
“You doubted us?” Duo grinned, looking terribly affronted.   
“Not for a minute,” Howard smiled. “But I didn’t think that machine was capable of some of those maneuvers,” he grinned while he inspected the dripping tip of one of the pod arms in wonder.   
“Maybe you just needed a better test pilot,” Duo boasted.   
“Yeah,” he agreed distantly, looking deeper into his contraption.   
“How about Rach?”   
“What?” Howard asked, jerking his head back out to gape at him.   
“He’s a wiry kid,” Duo shrugged. “Why not?”  
“He’s just a kid,” Howard chuckled.  
“A damned talented one from what I’ve seen,” Duo countered.  
“He’s too young.”  
“I was piloting Deathscythe at his age,” Duo smirked.   
“That was war,” Howard argued.   
“Cut the kid a break.”  
“Or break his neck,” Wufei cut in, coming to join them.   
“You’ve never seen that kid on a solar board,” Duo smiled.   
“You took him outship?!” Howard gasped.   
“He’s a natural,” Duo grinned and it was all Hiiro could do to keep from snatching him close and kissing him soundly.   
He wanted to so badly in that moment that it became painstakingly clear just how deep his newly identified feelings went. The banter went on over most of the lunch period as Duo’s easy manor held the closing gloom at bay until the very last moment and they were forced to face the issue, but even then it seemed as if sorrow and fear were merely a reflection in the face of these five pilots.   
Quatre, Trowa and Wufei set up first, going down early to activate the remote timers on the floats that had been installed that morning before taking their positions. Tethers were secured to both D.U.D.E.’s body and arms as the pods would be almost fully detached for the duration of the operation and the disarming team was activated.   
Duo seemed abnormally quiet during the preliminary descent and preparation, though Hiiro had to admit he was feeling the tension a little more down there as well. It was good to be focused at this point, but the closer they got to the mark the heavier his secret became until finally the time had come and the words had found their way into his throat.   
“Saddle up, cowboy,” Duo smiled, cutting him off before he could betray his own resolution.   
“Check the comm.,” Hiiro said instead, shoving his confession back down into the recesses of his heart to be dealt with at a more appropriate time.   
“Got me?” Duo called into his mic, already moving down the tiny shaft into the pod.   
“Roger that,” Hiiro replied, slipping once again into the old soldiers routine as he too slid into place, but his heart suddenly slammed into double time when he stopped and found that instead of staring out the small, bulbous window he had come face to face with a small crucifix he had seen nowhere on Earth or in space other than around the neck of Duo Maxwell.   
“Duo?” his voice cracked on the name as his mind swirled in a thousand different directions at once while he stared in shocked wonder at the glimmering cross.   
“For luck,” Duo’s soft tone responded.   
“You two all right over there?” Quatre inquired, but Hiiro was far from all right. He couldn’t stop his heart from interpreting the offering as the one thing he wanted more than anything else as his own words came crashing down around his ears.   
_’That is his heart you hold in your hand.’_  
“Duo.”  
“We have a job to do,” Duo reminded him and his tone was such that Hiiro had no will to dispute it, but he took the cross from where it hung and slipped it around his neck, feeling as if he had just claimed the greatest treasure ever known to mankind before he pushed the entire situation out of his mind and they got to work.   
**  
“That was amazing!”  
“I don’t believe it!”  
“It’s gotta be a record or something!”  
“How’d you manage to disarm them so fast?” Captain Jacque laughed, commending them on their success while they gazed out over the spectacle of the Expectation bobbing in the sea along side them.   
“Don’t ask me,” Duo laughed. “Hiiro took care of two of them to my one. He’s the genius.”   
“Brilliant!” Maurice chimed in, but the affection in his voice had taken on a decidedly different tone since he was sitting nearly in Rach’s lap.   
It didn’t escape Hiiro’s attention that the dark haired boy was wearing the doubloon either. He felt the heat of Duo’s cross around his neck where the metal seemed to burn his flesh while the hope that it meant anything at all what he hoped it did seeded in his heart.   
“We should celebrate!” Quatre crowed, brandishing two rather expensive looking bottles of champagne.   
“You guys go ahead,” Duo laughed.   
“What?” Quatre pouted.   
“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Duo explained. “I think I need to lay down for a bit before I hit the sauce.”  
“Of course,” Quatre smiled sympathetically. “You must be exhausted after all that.”  
“Me too,” Hiiro chirped, trying hard to mask his excitement at the unexpected chance to get Duo alone for a minute.   
It wasn’t all that difficult to slip away in the excitement. They heard the cork of one of the bottles when they entered the narrow hall and Hiiro’s temperature appeared to be connected to the way Duo’s hips swayed in the soft light. By the time they reached their cabin he knew he had to tell him, whatever the consequence. There was just no way to keep this bottled up inside.   
“Duo,” he said gently as his partner ducked inside.   
“It was silly, wasn’t it?” Duo replied, sounding more than a little nervous and very, very tired while he sat on Hiiro’s bunk to make room for him in the cabin.   
“I need to know why you did this,” Hiiro told him, pulling the cross from beneath his shirt.   
“Getting soft in my old age,” the eighteen year old chuckled.   
“Do you have feelings for me?” The question was blunt, he knew, but he felt they were out of time. The air needed to be cleared and he desperately needed to know how Duo felt. His answer came on the breath of an angel, so soft he almost didn’t hear it when Duo replied…  
“Yes.”  
Shocked silence was the most Hiiro could offer in response.   
“I know it’s not something you’re probably comfortable with,” Duo began and Hiiro’s mind began to work again. “But I can’t really help it, you know?” Hiiro felt something move inside him while a blush rose to Duo’s cheeks, something warm and alive rising up to embrace him body and soul. “It’s not like it means anything…” Duo’s words stalled when Hiiro lifted his hand to unclasp the chain that hung around his neck and the pain in his eyes was clarified by the sudden presence of unshed tears. “Well, thanks for not making fun of me, anyway,” he went on in a voice that sounding gravely and tight while Hiiro fastened the cross back around his neck. “I’m glad you wore it,” he laughed weakly, then gasped when Hiiro held him firm and kissed him softly. Hiiro could not have helped smiling as he took in the most adorable look of confusion on his partner’s face.   
“I don’t want symbols,” he told him.   
“Yeah, I…I know. I jus…”  
“I don’t want just a piece of your heart,” Hiiro cut him off, brushing his thumb gently over his cheek and Duo simply shut up. “I want it all,” Hiiro smiled kissing him again. “I love you,” he told him, finding the words incredibly easy to say and loving the astonished look on Duo’s face. “I’m sorry I never realized it before.”  
“What did you just say?” Duo asked distantly and Hiiro smiled.   
“I said…I love you,” Hiiro happily repeated.   
“Really?”   
An amused nod.   
“Like, you want to kiss me, love me?” Duo grinned and earned himself a much deeper version of the previous affection that left them both breathless and scrabbling at clothes.   
“Duo?” Hiiro gasped heatedly while his hands and mouth sought to discover all the things he never thought he’d know about Duo Maxwell.   
“Hmmmmm,” Duo groaned, pulling him down into the bunk.   
“What…I mean…” Damn, but it was hard to think all of a sudden. “What’s…allowed?” Hiiro finally managed while he discovered Duo was actually a little better endowed than him when fully aroused.   
“Gods,” Duo moaned arching back and Hiiro’s breath caught just to look at him. “Anything,” he panted, clinging desperately. “Do anything, just…don’t stop.”  
Hiiro felt the growl that emanated from his throat long before it actually rumbled free as he bent to fulfill his first desire and find out just how sweet he really was. Remarkably, they were left to their explorations for the remainder of the day. Or perhaps, not so remarkably, considering the audio capabilities of one long haired American during climax. Sleep came to them somewhere around evening, but lasted only until Hiiro was awakened by the smell of food to find Duo had sneaked out and procured them a meal. He grinned, knowing that not even the other pilots were probably aware of the theft and managed to turn Duo into desert before it was half eaten.   
There was no way he could have guessed the trip would turn out like it had, but he wouldn’t have changed it for anything. Duo had opened his eyes long ago, showing him there was so much more to life than war and the singular purpose. He had never given up over the years in his tireless efforts to help Hiiro achieve a higher plain of happiness in the world he had saved, and now he had opened his heart and given him the ultimate gift of love. Hiiro smiled and pulled his exhausted lover to him while the contented expression on his restful face brought a peace to his heart he had never truly understood before. He had spent his youth fighting for it. He had offered his life to achieve it, but until that moment he had never actually known it in his own heart.   
“You smell like cheese,” Duo grumbled sleepily.   
“Your fault,” Hiiro chuckled, nuzzling his ear.   
“Hiiro?”  
“Hn?”  
“What now?”  
Hiiro pulled away to gaze upon him, the one who had so stealthy stolen his heart so long ago, and smiled. “I’m living in Japan at the moment,” he informed him.   
“L2 sucks,” Duo smiled.   
“Move in with me,” Hiiro suggested.   
“You’re sure?”  
“Positive,” Hiiro grinned, going in for another kiss.   
“I snore.”   
“I know.”  
“I’d have to sponge off of you for awhile,” Duo smiled, wrapping his arms around his neck while Hiiro nibbled on his own. “Do you have a dishwasher? I hate doing dishes. Can’t say I’m much of a… cook… either… nnn.”  
Hiiro rolled him over and slipped between his legs curling his body around him in a warm little cocoon while he held him close and let his heart swell to the breaking point as he smiled and replied, “We’ll work it out.”  
owari :)

**Author's Note:**

> Write it, draw it, create it, sing it, SHARE IT. ~ Sunhawk 2019


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